Common reporting pitfalls and how to build dashboards that drive revenue strategy
Dashboards are meant to bring clarity. But too often, they do the opposite — misleading leadership, confusing teams, and disguising weak performance with good-looking numbers.
At Deep Thought 360, we’ve seen firsthand how many B2B companies rely on dashboards that look impressive but fail to support revenue growth. Here’s why most dashboards lie — and how to build ones that tell the truth and drive better decisions.
The problem:
Page views, likes, open rates — these metrics might look good on paper but rarely tell you anything useful about revenue or pipeline health.
What to do:
Separate activity metrics from impact metrics.
Prioritise KPIs like MQL-to-SQL conversion rate, pipeline velocity, and CAC vs LTV.
Build dashboards that support decisions, not just visibility.
The problem:
Dashboards are only as reliable as the data behind them. Duplicate contacts, incorrect lifecycle stages, or misaligned properties can render even the prettiest visualisations useless.
What to do:
Run a data audit inside HubSpot using custom reports or tools like Insycle or Operations Hub.
Align your definitions across teams — e.g., what exactly qualifies as an MQL or an SQL?
Standardise data entry with required fields and dropdowns.
The problem:
If your dashboards only report on one part of the customer journey (e.g., just marketing or just sales), you’re missing the full picture.
What to do:
Build cross-object reports in HubSpot that combine contacts, companies, deals, and tickets.
Integrate external data (e.g., finance, product usage) where relevant.
Align dashboards with RevOps principles: marketing, sales, and service as one revenue engine.
The problem:
Metrics mean nothing without context. A 30% drop in website traffic might seem disastrous — unless you know you turned off a high-cost ad campaign with poor ROI.
What to do:
Annotate dashboards with key campaign changes, budget shifts, or seasonality.
Build trend lines and comparisons (MoM, YoY, benchmarks).
Include qualitative insights alongside quantitative data in your reporting rhythm.
The problem:
Trying to cram every metric into a single view makes it impossible to extract meaningful insights.
What to do:
Create role-specific dashboards:
CMO: Funnel performance and ROMI
Sales Leader: Pipeline, forecast, close rates
Service Manager: Ticket trends, CSAT, retention
Include only what each role needs to take action.
We recommend a three-layered approach:
Strategic Layer – Revenue and retention KPIs tied to business goals
Operational Layer – Team performance, activity tracking, lead progression
Diagnostic Layer – Funnel leakage, source quality, deal cycle analysis
Use HubSpot’s Custom Report Builder, Attribution Reporting, and Forecast Tools to pull the right data, visualised with purpose.
Dashboards should serve strategy — not vanity. When designed well, they guide decisions, uncover friction, and help you grow faster.
At Deep Thought 360, we help B2B companies clean their data, align their metrics, and build HubSpot dashboards that actually matter.
Is your dashboard lying to you?
👉 Book a Dashboard Audit with Deep Thought 360